Private Arbitration
Arbitration is a method of resolving disputes by an independent person (the arbitrator) deciding who is right and who is wrong and determining the rights and obligations of the disputants according to law. This is the traditional process of the law courts. Similar results may be achieved, often less expensively and more speedily, by private arbitration.
Alan has been a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb.) and a Chartered Arbitrator. He has had experience arbitrating under the NSW Commercial Arbitration Act and under the Rules for Conduct of Commercial Arbitrations of the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia.
Apart from his years as a litigation lawyer, Alan has experience in merits review of administrative decisions as a Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and has resolved over 800 domain name disputes. He has also determined numerous complaints about advertisements for therapeutic goods in his capacity of Chairman of the Complaints Resolution Panel established under the Commonwealth Therapeutic Goods Regulations and as Chairman of the Complaints Panel of Consumer Healthcare Products Australia.
Baseball Arbitration
In "baseball arbitration", the neutral arbitrator must choose which of the disputants sealed offers is the more reasonable, taking specified considerations into account. There is no ability to split the difference. The disputants are bound to accept the decision. This structure is designed to force the disputants to be reasonable, for fear the arbitrator will choose the other disputant's offer.
Mini-Trial
A "mini-trial", otherwise called an "information exchange" resembles a truncated court case but without live evidence. The decision-makers on each side sit with the neutral person as if they were judges, facing the lawyers for each side, who "fast-forward" to their "final addresses" and answer questions from the "bench". Then the decision-makers retire with the neutral person to negotiate settlement, in light of their evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses, as exposed during the previous session.